Conventionally, there have been proposed different kinds of robot simulators which, when having a robot to perform a specified processing work, simulate an operation of the robot in advance and graphically represent the simulation result on a display of a computer.
By using the robot simulator, an operator can verify, based on the graphic representation, whether the robot interferes with an obstacle and can prepare teaching data without actually operating the robot.
A certain level of proficiency is required in order for an operator to prepare teaching data.
For this reason, there has been recently proposed a method in which touch keys using operation-direction-indicating words such as “up”, “down”, “left” and “right” are indicated around a graphic image of a robot displayed on a touch panel so that an operator can press the touch keys, thereby making the operation easy (see, e.g., Japanese Patent No. 3901772).
However, the conventional robot simulator needs to be improved to make a robot operable by an operator in an intuitively understandable manner regardless of the operator's proficiency.
For example, in the case of indicating the touch keys using operation-direction-indicating words as mentioned above, if the robot is provided with multiple axes and can be moved in many different directions, it becomes necessary to indicate an increased number of touch keys. This may possibly make it difficult to understand the operation.
Further, the directions indicated by the words such as “left” and “right” as mentioned above are not absolute but relative. For that reason, it is difficult for an operator to intuitively grasp the operation directions of the robot.